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Wednesday, September 26, 2012

Ex-servicemen reject hike in
pension, say it is ‘misleading’Ajay
BanerjeeTribune News Service

New Delhi, September 25As the fine print of the Cabinet’s decision on
additional pension for ex-servicemen emerges, it is clear that the government
stopped short of accepting the ‘one rank, one pension’ (OROP) formula but there
will be an across the board increase in pension for all those who retired before
January 1 2006.
Depending on which side you stand, opinions are sharply divided on the hike
and the last word on the matter is yet to be spoken with ex-servicemen groups
rejecting the additional pension benefits.
The basic
pension of all officers who retired before January 1, 2006 will increase between
Rs 1,800 and Rs 3,600. The existing 65 per cent of dearness allowance will also
be admissible over the increased amount. However, this is not as per the OROP
formula.
Despite the increase, officers who retired after January 1, 2006 will get
pensions that are way ahead of those who retired before January 1, 2006. The
other measures on dual family pension and family pension for physically and
mentally handicapped children after marriage have been welcomed.
Sources said as per calculations made so far, the following will be the
tentative hike in basic pension for officers who retired before January 1, 2006:
Captain Rs 13,850 (existing) to Rs 15,350 (after hike); Major Rs 14,100 to Rs
18,205; Lt Col Rs 25,700 to Rs 26,262; Colonel Rs 26,050 to Rs 27,795; Brigadier
Rs 26,150 to Rs 29,145 and Major General Rs 26,700 to 30,350. These figures
could be more, depending upon several other factors. This DA would be paid as
per prevailing rates. Other payments of military service pay and grade pay
factored into the pension calculation formula remain unchanged.
Maj General Satbir Singh (retd), vice-chairman of the Indian Ex-Servicemen
Movement, rejected the announcement terming it as “misleading”. “What has been
given, albeit grudgingly, does not even meet provisions of the Armed Forces
Tribunal (AFT) judgments on the matter,” he said in letters shot-off to the
Prime Minister with copies to Defence Minister AK Antony and the three Service
Chiefs. Two summers ago, the General had led a march to Rashtrapati Bhawan where
hundreds of retired personnel returned their medals.
Gurdaspur MP Partap Singh Bajwa and Rohtak MP Deepender Singh Hooda have
welcomed the decision. Bajwa said the remaining demands of serving officers
should be met immediately, while Hooda praised Sonia Gandhi for the move.
Explaining the intricacies of OROP, Maj General Singh said, “OROP means that
defence personnel with the same rank and same length of service must draw the
same pension irrespective of the date of retirement and any future enhancement
would be automatically granted to them. What has been announced is not OROP.”
The hike has come about after a change in calculations. Till now, the pension
for ex-servicemen retiring before January 1, 2006 was calculated as per the
lowest pay in the existing pay band.

1. The ‘One Rank One Pension’ issue has been raised before both the V and VI pay commissions.

2. The issue is about the considerable disparity in pension between pensioners that retired pre 1996, between 1996-2006 and post 2006.

3. The tying up of pensions with the last drawn pay is applied universally to both civilian and defence personnel.

4. Since the pay scales were revised by the V and VI pay commissions, the tie up with the last drawn pay had widened the disparity in pensions (as referred in the note)

5. But for the senior officers in both the Officers cadre (e.g. Lt. General) and PBOR (Personnel Below Officers Rank) cadre (e.g. Honorary Captain), the pensions are based on rank and not on the last drawn pay.

6. The V pay commission, in 1996, has recommended parity in pension between pre and post 1986 pensioners. This was a follow up to the KP Singh Deo report in 1984 and a One Time Increase in 1992 towards bringing parity in pensions. But the V pay commission’s recommendations on the pension of ‘post 1996’ retirees, was still tied to the last drawn pay.

7. The V pay commission has also made provisions for neutralization of price rise.

8. The VI pay commission has given a ‘fitment benefit’ to all retired employees, both civilian and defense, to partially compensate for the disparities in the pre 2006 and post 2006 retirees.

9. Also in order to compensate for the reduced employment of defence personnel period a ‘year weightage’ is included in calculation of benefits.

10. Due to the widening disparity, the note asks for pay to be not tied to the last drawn pay but to the rank thereby making all future increases applicable to existing pensioners also.

11. It is a highly emotive issue, since the soldiers retain their titles post retirement and the financial benefits accruing to them is determined by the retirement date.

12. Fiscal outlay for implementing the ‘One Rank One Pension’ is going to be modest -- only in the order of Rs.1500 crores.
Considering the fact that the soldiers serve the best years of their lives in defense of the country in life threatening environments and retiring early, the ‘One Rank One Pension’ demand deserves to be implemented in an expedient way to honor our soldiers. A future BJP-led government, if elected, will implement this demand without any delay.

Tuesday, September 25, 2012

Bowing to the long-standing demand of ex-servicemen for one rank, one pension (OROP) and other benefits, the Union Cabinet on Monday broadly approved the scheme and also gave its nod for enhancement of family pension and dual family pension that will cost the government about Rs. 2300 crore annually. The Cabinet, which met here under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, also approved the grant of family pension to mentally and physically challenged children of armed forces personnel. The decisions on pension issues of ex-servicemen may be implemented from a prospective date and payment made accordingly, an official release said.

On the OROP, the demand of the defence forces and ex-servicemen associations was that an uniform pension be paid to the defence personnel retiring in the same rank with the same length of service, irrespective of their date of retirement, and that any future enhancement in the rates of pension be automatically passed on to the past pensioners. The difference in the pension of present and past pensioners in the same rank occurs on account of the number of increments earned by the defence personnel in that rank. The UPA government on two previous occasions has taken decisions to narrow the gap between the present and past pensioners, particularly those belonging to ‘JCOs and Other Ranks. On the issue of one rank, one pension, the Cabinet approved the following:

Bridging of the gap in the pension of pre-January 2006 and post January 2006 JCO/OR retirees by determining the pension of pre January 1, 2006 retirees on the basis of a notional maximum for ranks and groups across the three Services as in the case of post-January 1, 2006 retirees. In addition, the weightage of qualifying service in the ranks of Sepoys, Naik and Havaldar would be increased by two years for both pre and post-January 1, 2006 retirees.

The pension of pre-January 1, 2006 Commissioned Officer pensioners would be stepped up with reference to the minimum of fitment table for the ranks, instead of the minimum of pay band.

Referring to the enhancement of family pension, the Cabinet decided that the pension of pre-January 1, 2006 family pensioners (Commissioned Officers, Honorary Commissioned Officers, JCOs/ORs) be stepped up, based on the minimum of the fitment table instead of the minimum of the Pay Band.

Establishing linkage between the family pension and the pension of JCOs/ORs, in those cases where the death takes place after the retirement of the JCO/OR since such a JCO/OR drew a pension based on the maximum of the pay scales, 60% of the pension applicable to JCO/OR pensioners would be granted to the family pensioner in case of normal family pension calculated at 30% of last pay drawn.

Accordingly, based on the rank, group and length of service of the deceased JCO/OR pensioner, his pension would first be determined on notional basis. In cases where death of JCO/OR took place after retirement, the family pensioners in receipt of normal family pension would become entitled to 60% of the said pension determined on notional basis and those in receipt of enhanced family pension will be entitled to 100% of this pension.

Similar entitlements would be determined in the case of Special Family Pension and The family pensioner of the JCO/OR would be granted pension arrived at on the basis of the family pension worked out as per the formulation at (i) above or the pension on the basis of stepping up with reference to the minimum of the fitment table, whichever is beneficial. Further, the linkage of family pension with retiring pension be applied in the case of post-January 1, 2006 family pensioners of JCOs/ORs also.

Dual family pension

The Cabinet also decided that dual family pension would be allowed in the present and future cases where the pensioner drew, is drawing or may draw pension for military service as well as for civil employment.

In yet another welfare measure, the Cabinet approved that the grant of family pension to mentally/ physically challenged children who drew, are drawing or may draw family pension would continue even after their marriage.

Panel report

The Cabinet nod for the OROP came weeks after the six-member committee, set up by the Prime Minister, submitted its report. The committee was headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth. It was set up after a Rajya Sabha panel last year recommended granting one rank, one pension to defence personnel.

The Rajya Sabha Committee on Petition in a report tabled on December 19, 2011 recommended grant of OROP to defence personnel. It found the government contention to deny ex-servicemen “untenable.”

Service pension for various ranks shall now be the following:For Junior Commissioned Officers and Other Ranks (JCOs/OR): Add two years in the existing tables which can be accessed by clicking here. For example, to get to know the basic pension now admissible at 15 years, the amount reflected at 17 years may be seen. For Officers: The admissible basic pension for pre-2006 retirees shall be as below:-Lieut : Rs 13,500 Capt : Rs 15,350Maj : Rs 18,205Lt Col : Rs 26,265Col : Rs 27,795Brig : Rs 29,145Maj Gen : Rs 30,350

Monday, September 24, 2012

New Delhi: The Union Cabinet on Monday approved a 7 percent hike in the Dearness Allowance (DA) for central government employees.

The approval will benefit 80 lakh central government employees and pensioners.

Earlier, the meetings of the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) and Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure (CCI), was scheduled for Friday but was postponed apparently due to political turmoil post the government’s ‘big bang’ reform announcement.

The hike in dearness allowance will be effective from July 1, 2012, and the employees would be entitled to arrears from that date.

The additional burden on exchequer on account of increase in DA would be around Rs. 5,000 crore for the eight-month period between July, 2012 and February, 2013. It will be Rs. 7,400 crore for the full financial year.

The government had last increased DA in March this year from 58 percent to 65 percent, which was effective from January 1, 2012. It will now be increased to 72 percent.

The government periodically hikes the DA, which is linked to consumer price index for industrial workers. The consumer price index (CPI) based on movement in retail prices, soared to 10.03 percent in August, from 9.86 percent in July.

New Delhi: In a major victory for ex-servicemen, the government has set aside Rs. 2,300 crore to implement the one-rank-one-pension (OROP) demand that has been pending for years. This has been a major irritant between the armed forces and the bureaucracy.

In recognition of this demand, the Prime Minister in his Independence Day address this year, had announced OROP, apart from several other measures.

The Union Cabinet secretary Ajit K Seth was put in charge of a committee that has submitted its report, though after more than a month's delay.

OROP implies that servicemen of the same rank and same period of service should get the same pension, irrespective of when they retired. It also means that as and when pension is enhanced, the benefit will also be passed on to those who have retired earlier.

Wednesday, September 19, 2012

Major A.K. Dhana-palan (retd) at his home in Alappuzha - Photo by Jackson Arattukulam

It was 1987. General K. Sundarji was in Pune, briefing senior Southern Command officers on the Fourth Pay Commission, when a lowly captain asked an uncomfortable question. He wanted to know why his basic had actually gone down, after the rank pay was introduced. There was a buzz in the room. The chief told the captain to meet him separately, he would explain the issue.“I didn't seek private audience later. I was too junior,” chuckles Major A.K. Dhanapalan (retd). “I actually had no business rubbing shoulders with senior officers that day, except that I was operating the computer for the conference. But I hadn't got it wrong. I was right, bang on.”

The Engineers officer chanced upon the anomaly when he was asked to work on preparing the pay fixation of defence civilian setups, like Military Engineering Service, on the Fourth Pay Commission template. “That year, the commission introduced a rank pay for defence officers between the ranks of captain to brigadier, which was 0200 at captain rank. But what it actually did was deduct the same amount from the basic pay and give it as rank pay. Since all emoluments are linked to basic, not only was there no net gain, we were actually losing out,” Dhanapalan explains. He redid his calculations several times till he was convinced the government had tricked the defence officers. “I wanted to take the matter to court, but I was in Pune and the High Court in Mumbai. Then, I got posted to Udhampur, and the High Court was in Jammu. Next, I was transferred to Port Blair....” Dhanapalan finally got his opportunity on being posted to Kochi in 1995. His office was close to the Kerala High Court; it was time to make that move.

His colleagues were shocked at his daring. His advocate, too, was not convinced. The court, however, understood and ruled that the Union of India should pay the rank pay arrears and an interest of 6 per cent. The matter went on appeal and a division bench of the court upheld the judgment. The government took the matter to the Supreme Court but had to eat humble pie when, in 2006, the court rejected its plea. He did not stop there. The arrears, while welcome, were not his goal. His aim was to alert defence personnel not to be lulled into complacency by the “you are being looked after” attitude of the establishment. So he photocopied the verdict and posted them to officers and clubs he had addresses of. “That itself cost me a bomb,” he recalls. One such letter reached Colonel B.K. Sharma.

Sharma was the first officer to do motorcycle daredevilry in the Republic Day parade in 1978. Post-retirement, he realised it was daredevilry time again, this time to take on the government for which he had once fought. He circulated copies of the judgment in canteens and clubs. Knowing there was strength in numbers, some retired officers got together and registered Retired Defence Officers' Association (RDOA) and filed a writ petition in the Supreme Court in 2007. Meanwhile, across India, officers were litigating for the same demand, and all the cases were finally clubbed together before a division bench of Justices Markandey Katju and R.M. Lodha.

“We had not bargained for the level of resistance from the government. Instead of conceding gracefully, they tried repeatedly to stonewall us,” says Sharma. When in 2010, the bench ruled that it agreed with the reasoning of the Kerala High Court that rank pay be paid retrospectively, with 6 per cent interest, the government filed a transfer petition before a bench of three judges. The three service chiefs recommended to the solicitor general to withdraw the litigation and honour the judgment. The defence ministry, however, pressured the chiefs to withdraw their written communique. In a rare show of defiance, the chiefs stood their ground. The RDOA had to file an RTI to confirm the service chiefs' stance on the matter. “They used every tactic, from pleading inability to meet the financial burden to the solicitor general not appearing in court, due to which proceedings would get postponed,” recalls Sharma. “This summer, when the court fixed the last hearing day on September 4, we actually wrote to the law ministry that so many officers had already died in the last 26 years. Delaying justice was not fair, so either they withdraw the special leave petition or ensure the solicitor general be present in court on September 4.”

The final hearing was a marathon session. The government made a last ditch plea that interest be paid only to litigants. The court refused. However, it reduced the date of calculation of interest from 1986 to 2006 at 6 per cent, ordering that it be paid within 12 weeks. “This is a big victory,” says RDOA advocate Aishwarya Bhati. “It gives a shot in the arm to all other cases that the defence personnel have been fighting.” According to RDOA, over 45,000 officers, retired and serving, will benefit, and it will also impact pensions and widow pensions. The amounts, Sharma calculates, will range from around 06 to 01 lakh, depending on length of service and rank held. The government claims it is a burden of 01,600 crore. “It isn't about money. We fought on principle and we have won our prestige,” says Sharma, but admits being flooded with congratulatory calls, all of them with the suffix, “Mujhe kitna milega? (How much will I get?)”

How did only Dhanapalan get wise to the anomaly? “Faujis are great at protocol, discipline and a hundred other virtues. Studying payslips isn't among those, unfortunately. They usually don't question what goes to the bank, or do the sums themselves,” says Dhanapalan. There are many other issues with defence pay and entitlements, but defence personnel say the government is changing tactics. Instead of risking its decisions being challenged in court, it now procrastinates.

The Sixth Pay Commission anomalies are an example. Last heard, a four-member committee headed by the cabinet secretary was appointed to look into the issue. Then Navy chief Nirmal Verma had expressed anguish at no defence representative being on the committee.

Meanwhile, the man who ignited the spark sits back with a smile. “The government paid arrears only till 1996. I decided not to contest it, as by then, RDOA took up the fight.” There are fears the government might give arrears only till 1996 to others, too. “My mission is accomplished. No longer will faujis take at face value what is given to them. They have learnt to read between lines, ask, and fight for their dues,” says Dhanapalan, getting ready to go to the temple.

Monday, September 17, 2012

New Delhi, September 16
The government is keen to accept at least four of the armed forces’ demands on fixation of their pay and pension. The high-powered committee set up by PM Manmohan Singh has given its ideas wherein it has accepted that some of the demands of the forces need to be met immediately as there are glaring anomalies, sources said. Sources said the committee has recommended that the armed forces be given non-functional upgradation (NFU) to match their counterparts in the IPS, IAS and paramilitary forces. The grade pay is another issue, the committee has suggested, can be looked into. Thirdly, it has agreed that a common payscale be evolved for in-service jawans. Lastly, it has agreed on removal of all anomalies towards one rank one pension (OROP). Meanwhile, a fresh calculation has been ordered following a Supreme Court judgment relating to a 25-year-old pay-related case filed by Major Dhanapalan. The court ruled in his favour to correct the anomaly and will impact all officers who were serving then and now. This had to be factored in before a final announcement. The PM can still make changes as Defence Minister AK Antony was very keen on resolving matters at the earliest and in favour of the forces. The committee headed by Cabinet Secretary Ajit Seth was formed following an intervention from PM Manmohan Singh on July 8 this year. The forces protested that they had no representative; the committee specially met the three service chiefs. Its mandate was to deal with six issues of serving officers and jawans and another four issues relating to those who retired. Sources said the committee was unanimous on payscale for jawans, OROP, grade pay and NFU. The most serious was the NFU issue. The Sixth Central Pay Commission (CPC) recommendations were out in October 2008. The IAS in the post of Joint Secretary (JS) to the Government of India was made eligible for a grade pay of Rs 10,000 a month on completing 22 years of service.

What the High-Powered panel says

Armed forces be given non-functional upgrade to match their counterparts in the IPS, IAS and paramilitary forces

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